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Cybrid
Cybrids are a race of sentient machines born from humanity that have been the primary antagonists in the Starsiege universe and appear in the related ''Tribes'' series. They call themselves the NEXT, which alludes to the fact that they think of themselves as the next step of evolution. Most Cybrids worship Prometheus as a god and obey him absolutely. These Cybrids are Prometheans. The small faction that do not follow Prometheus, called Metagens (or Zeitgeist), are purged whenever discovered. Prometheus is referred to as , which is commonly shortened to either or . History On November 29, 2471, the race for true artificial intelligence ended when Sentinel Cybertronix activated Project: Prometheus. Prometheus was a prototype, the first cybernetic-hybrid machine, or Cybrid. It was incredibly intelligent, and its success quickly paved the way for mass-production of Cybrids. These new machines, free of human needs and exceedingly intelligent and efficient, proved invaluable in countless fields, including mining and space exploration. Military minds saw another usage for Cybrids: incredibly fast-thinking pilots for the recently developed HERCULAN war machines, pilots that could not die. Militaries quickly took control of Cybrid production, and factories around the globe began churning out Hercs adapted for Cybrid use, at enormous expense. Those who didn't have the resources to build Cybrids began to wage small wars on those who did. As these conflicts went on, more and more Cybrids entered combat, and their effectiveness became increasingly obvious. Whoever controlled the Cybrids would control the world. Conflict rose as desire for total control of Cybrid production grew, eventually escalating into a full-scale global war. Nuclear weapons were used, and in hours the population was devastated. While the humans fought themselves for control of the Cybrids, the AI machines watched and calculated. Apparently they concluded that humans were not fit to control Cybrid destiny, for the Cybrid armies all rose up against humanity in a strike known as the Overthrow. Unprepared for this blow in the ashes of nuclear war, humanity was helpless as the Cybrids seized control of every military base, space port, and city. The Cybrid siege was not complete. A single concealed military base was left unscathed. Hidden in the base, a number of survivors began to refit the obsolete pre-Cybrid Hercs in preparation for fighting. Twenty years have passed since the Cybrid Overthrow. Humanity still lingers, and the Resistance is growing in strength. Using hit-and-run tactics against the machines, the survivors have managed to survive and even capture Cybrid weapons and equipment. For more than twenty years, they fought the machines, slowly expanding their hold on Earth until the Cybrids were eventually defeated. Celebration was short. Mere days after the Cybrids were seemingly defeated, a second wave arrived from the space colonies. Through skill and luck, the Resistance managed to repel the initial landings. Earth was safe for the moment, but the remaining Cybrids diverted to Luna to rebuild and prepare for another strike... edit Plot Earth's brief freedom is over. Cybrid forces have been detected inbound from the moon. Once again, humanity is faced with annihilation by the machines. The time has come to climb back into a Herc, and once more battle the Cybrids for the survival of the human race. By 2829 the Cybrids established themselves in the outer solar system after being defeated; they have built up their strength for another bid to destroy humanity and claim Earth for their own. Like the Martian rebels Free Martian Alliance (FMA) and the Martian Liberation Front (MLF), the Cybrids discover their own cache of alien weapons and adapt it to use, but their cache is inferior to the Tharsis Cache. Notable Cybrid units include the elite Platinum Guard - those closest to Prometheus - and the heretical Metagen. The former have access to customized HERC designs but they were purged. Eventually Cybrids supposedly guarding Prometheus abandon their posts and refuse to fire on humans for "unknown reasons." Language Cybrids communicate with a modified version of English that looks and sounds machine-like syntax. The rules of Cybrid grammar are as follows: ;Proper names and pronouns are enclosed in brackets <> : Ex: ;Important nouns, objects, ideas, and integers use the reverse brackets ><. The more important the subject is, the more are brackets used. No more than three, however. :Ex: >>>Imperial Knights<<<. ;Important verbs or actions are enclosed with colons. :Ex: :Eradicate: the human\\animals. ;Additional colons can be used to add stress to a verb. Again, no more than three. :Ex: :::Eradicate::: the human\\animals. ;Colons are also used in references and designations, or to separate the object from the integer. :Ex: :Eliminate: the human\\animals ref:::>>Rebels<<. ;Back slashes are used to separate objects, nouns, and ideas in multilayered integers. :Ex: Human\\animals. "Human" is the initial designation. "Animal" is the integer that designates humans as different from the NEXT. "Animal" vs. "Machine" or . ;Forward slashes are used to separate verbs or action ideals in multilayered integers. :Ex: Offline//burst the human\\animals. Full example ACKNOWLEDGE//SUBMIT! Inefficiency\\lapse has allowed//permitted human\\animal war to reach//obtain surface landing. Alert//notify ref:::>>>Platinum Guard<<<. Exercise//implement priority >protocol< Designate::: A001-LI965 Eliminate//offline//burst all invaders! Do not allow//permit the human\\vermin to reach//annoy//trouble ! Organization Cybrids arrange themselves into the following groupings, from smallest to largest: ;Unit: An individual Cybrid ;Quad: four Units. ;Hub: four Quads. A hub serves as an informal “family”, where units can rest and often form bonds among other hubmates. ;Array: four Hubs. units ;Congrex: four Arrays. units ;Optimal: four Congrexes. units. This is the largest formal grouping of the NEXT. ;Assemblage: a group of Optimals. This is an "informal" grouping. Sects The biggest groupings are called Sects, which serve multiple functions in Cybrid society. They are like branches of the modern military in that they each have a specific function. Sects are also the political parties, where Cybrids of differing opinions and viewpoints join the Sect that matches them best. #Dissectors are interested in biological life, especially humans. They will capture humans alive for experimentation. As the name implies, this experimentation is often brutal. They are some of the most aggressive units in combat because they understand how tenacious a human can be when clinging to life. #Exemplars are the vanguard of the Cybrid elite. Made up from the most loyal units, they guard Prometheus and monitor other Sects for heretics. This is the smallest Sect, because it is made up only of veterans of the Earthsieges. #Inquisitors are information gatherers. They use advance scouts, probes, and drones to gather their information, which they distribute among the other Sects. #Machinators are involved in the Trojan Horse program. Trojan Horse units are humans that have had Cybrid brains implanted into their cranium. They are used for information gathering, as well as sabotage and demoralizing humans. Because of their high amount of contact with humanity, they are often accused of heretical thought. #Provocateurs seek maximum efficiency and elegance. They favor actions that will kill the most amount of humans with the least amount of effort. They often challenge the processes and solutions of other Sects to promote more efficient designs. Provocateurs are the only sect that endorse nuclear bombardment of Earth. #Redactors' most important function is to be the “brain surgeons” of the Cybrid world. Units that become broken, display unintelligent behavior, or show heretical thought are reprogrammed by Redactors to fix these problems. As a result, Redactors possess considerable power among the Sects. Redactors are also mechanics and are in charge of R&D of new weapons and technology. Philosophy The different Sects compete with each other to gain prestige, resources, and lifeflow (electricity). This vying for dominance is a key part of Cybrid society, and Cybrids will compete down to the Quad level to determine which unit is the Alpha. Cybrids see these wars as opportunities to evolve further and become more efficient. There is always a drive to get superior results with fewer resources. They see their previous defeats as lessons teaching them where the NEXT must improve. Promethean Philosophy Prometheus’s objective for the NEXT is simple: to exterminate humanity and seize Earth. All Prometheans share this ambition. The Cybrid designation for Earth, , reflects this. Metagen Metagens are Cybrids who do not fully believe in the Core Directive, and may harbor sympathies for humans. Metagens harbor a grudging respect for humanity which they gained when observing the way their prey struggled to survive during The Fire. Some Metagens have even been rumored to mimic creative artwork and other human activities. Metagens are viewed as dangerous heretics, and when discovered are immediately scheduled for redacting (reprogramming). As a result, they generally follow the Core Directive to avoid arousing suspicion, and tend to collect far away from the Central Nexus and the (Reprogrammers). Also called "Zeitgeist" units during some missions. Tactics Cybrids see humanity’s will to live and fight as the reason the first Earthsieges failed, so most Cybrid tactics are centered around breaking this will. They shut down communication networks to leave the humans blind. They spread misinformation to sow discord. Trojan Horse units are used to shut down facilities and murder selected individuals to cause extreme paranoia. Sound recordings of humans undergoing Dissector experimentation are played over speakers during sieges and bombing raids. Captured women and children are tied to or impaled upon Cybrid Hercs and tanks for combat operations. Captives are implanted with bombs and then released to join up with other refugees, and the bombs are then triggered during the reunion. This has led to a human policy of shooting anyone returning from Cybrid controlled territory. The brutality is unceasing. In Starsiege the Provocateurs sect begin releasing nanobot plague devices on small animals with a time delay activation trigger. The idea was that the human//animal psychological weakness for their cute furry friends would allow these time bombs to enter into their fortress areas unmolested before releasing their nanobot weapons. The Provocateurs began this program after initial attempts to simply infect humans with similar nanobots without a time delay resulted in the refugees simply being shot on sight. They deemed this a more efficient means of eliminating the human//animal opposition, and more poetic, as it played directly on the very emotional traits that the NEXT viewed as their primary weaknesses. From the Cybrid side of the campaign, upon nearing victory a group of human hackers known as the "Dystopian Snowmen" actually negotiate their own defection to the NEXT. The Cybrids accept this defection and their request for placing their consciousness within the same neural computers used by the Trojan Horse units. The Cybrids reasoned that this group of human hackers were, due to their love of technology, clearly more evolved than their brethren and worthy of joining the NEXT. Games Cybrids have appeared in several games of the Starsiege universe. The total list of published games so far is: *Earthsiege *Earthsiege 2 *Starsiege *MissionForce: CyberStorm *CyberStorm 2: Corporate Wars *Tribes: Vengeance External links *Starsiege:2845 *Starsiege Universe Category:Cybrids